Taunton State Hospital again faces closure

For the third straight year, the state is proposing to move all inpatient beds from Taunton State Hospital to the new Worcester Recovery Center. Opponents vow a fight.

Gerry Tuoti Wicked Local Newsbank Editor

TAUNTON - The state's plan to close the inpatient unit at Taunton State Hospital reflects a philosophical shift that emphasizes community-based services over institutional care, a mental health official said Friday.

"When I started in the field, recovery wasn't something anyone talked about. It was symptom management," Department of Mental Health Deputy Commissioner Clifford Robinson said. "People tend to recover and rehabilitate better in a non-institutional setting, like the community. In the past 30 years there have been massive changes, and we think there are an awful lot of exciting possibilities out there."

For the third straight year, the state is proposing to move all inpatient beds from Taunton State Hospital to the new Worcester Recovery Center. In each of the past two years, the state faced staunch local opposition. As a compromise struck in the Legislature, 45 beds currently remain at Taunton State, which used to have about 170.

Many local legislators, including state Sen. Marc Pacheco, D-Taunton, House Speaker Pro Tempore Patricia Haddad, D-Somerset, and Rep. Shaunna O'Connell, R-Taunton, have said they plan to fight the state's plans again.

On Friday, Clifford discussed plans to redevelop the Taunton State Hospital campus, which may include bringing in state, city and private entities.

While plans call for shutting down the Department of Mental Health's inpatient treatment program at Taunton State Hospital, moving the beds to Worcester, Clifford said other services will continue to be provided on the Taunton State campus.

The vision, he said, includes consolidating the 80 Department of Youth Services beds currently on site into one secure space. The 120-year-old Howland Building, where some of the DYS beds are currently located, is recommended for demolition. Design and planning are underway to renovate and expand the Goss building.

The campus also includes a 16-bed vendor-run mental health program for intensive residential treatment.

Additionally, High Point Treatment Center will open a 40-bed drug treatment unit on the campus early this year, Clifford said. The vendor-operated program is being coordinated and funded through a division of the state Department of Public Health.

In total, the state plans to invest $6 million in expanding community-based mental health services in southeastern Massachusetts.

Discussions with the city on potential municipal use for the land are also likely, Clifford said.

"I think there are a lot of things that can happen on the Taunton grounds that would benefit the community, other state agencies and clients and families of the Department of Mental Health," he said.

Many local opponents of the plan say that transferring the inpatient mental health treatment services to Worcester will burden patients and families in southeastern Massachusetts.

In a statement released Wednesday, the Massachusetts Nurses Association called the move an "abandonment of the mentally ill."

Longtime Taunton State Hospital nurse Karen Coughlin said there are some patients who require care that can only be administered in an inpatient setting.

"We always want to have patients be able to receive services in a community no matter what the level of care is," she said. "I understand there's a community first movement, but it's not a community only."

Clifford said he recognizes challenges associated with implementing the plan.

"We agree that there will always be some number of clients who require a continuous care bed in a hospital," he said. "We would like folks who need that level of care to get that level of care in the best possible hospital."

Pacheco, who has led the fight in the Senate to keep Taunton State Hospital open, said he is concerned that the state's plan would remove the local "safety net" and that people in southeastern Massachusetts won't be able to get inpatient mental health care in their home region.

He also disputed the state's claim that the additional investment into community-based mental health services in southeastern Massachusetts will create 120 new local jobs. Those jobs, he said, will take the place of current Taunton State Hospital jobs that are due to be transferred elsewhere.